


No Longer a Shadow

by RadarsTeddyBear



Series: Ducktober 2018 [30]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Family, Fictober, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Shadow Realm, a little bit of unintentional self harm, feeling real, prompt: cathartic shower/bath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-11 01:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16466249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadarsTeddyBear/pseuds/RadarsTeddyBear
Summary: Lena takes a shower after getting out of the Shadow Realm.Part 1 of 2.





	No Longer a Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: ["Cathartic Shower/Bath"](http://radarsteddybear.tumblr.com/post/169006603389/whumpreads-i-dont-draw-but-ive-been-thinking).

It had been a long day.  With the help of Scrooge and Webby and everyone else who lived in McDuck Manor (even that ghost butler, who’d ended up being the key to figuring everything out), Lena had finally escaped from the Shadow Realm.  She was a _person_ again.  She could run, and jump, and speak, and breathe, and feel, and even hug.  She could eat, which was kind of weird after having no need for so long (Scrooge had thought that she’d be starving when she’d gotten out, but surprisingly, she hadn’t had much of an appetite).  She could drink, which was a lot less weird. Lena loved the feeling of liquid flowing over her tongue and down her throat after so much time not having a mouth.

Mrs. Beakley, having some medical training (because of course she did), had given Lena something of a checkup to make sure that she’d gotten out of the Shadow Realm in one piece (she had), and then they’d had a small party to celebrate that Lena was back.  It felt like a dream, and Lena had kept pinching herself to make sure that it wasn’t and that she was really real again.

Webby didn’t leave Lena’s side the whole rest of the day, which was kind of ironic since Lena had spent the last few months literally tied to her, but it was also really nice.  Lena liked being able to talk to her best friend again (although sometimes she had to remind herself that she could, in fact, talk and participate in the conversation), and she didn’t even mind all the hugs.  

The party had been pretty short, though, because Lena was exhausted.  There was something about crossing from one world to another that was completely draining.  Lena had opted to take a nap in the living room instead of the empty bedroom next to Webby’s that Mrs. Beakley was getting ready for her.  Lena knew that the room would be too dark, too quiet. Too much like the Shadow Realm. She preferred the sunlight streaming in through the windows and the noise of everyone going about their day, chatting with each other and watching TV and banging around in the kitchen.  Webby had hung around nearby, of course, reading and doodling and sometimes whispering things to her when she forgot she was trying to sleep. But Lena didn’t mind. She needed all the reminders she could get that she was tangible again.

After Lena’s nap, they’d all had dinner, which had a festive atmosphere like it was an extension of the celebration they’d had earlier.  Even Donald seemed happy that she was back, which was kind of weird because she didn’t know the guy very well, but hey, that certainly wasn’t something to complain about.

After dinner, they’d all hung out a bit and watched a movie.  Some old thing that Lena had never heard of (then again, Aunt Magica hadn’t exactly been one for movie nights), but it was pretty good.  

Then, Donald and Mrs. Beakley had sent the kids to bed, and Mrs. Beakley suggested that Lena go take a shower.  Which was just about the most parental thing Mrs. Beakley could have told her to do, but Lena didn’t mind parental right now.  

Lena headed upstairs to the bathroom, where Webby was gathering a few things so she could use one of the other ones before going to bed.  Mrs. Beakley came in a few minutes later with a couple of towels and one of those meshy bath pouf things, the tag still on it.

“You can use Webby’s soap tonight.  I can get you your own tomorrow if you’d prefer something different.”

Lena nodded.  

“The right side is hot water, the left side is cold, and you pull this knob to turn on the shower.  If you’d like to take a bath instead, the drain plug is right here.”

Lena nodded again.

“If you need anything, just give a shout,” Mrs. Beakley said as she left the room, leaving Lena alone for the first time since she’d exited the Shadow Realm.  That is, assuming being in the Shadow Realm counted as being alone, which...eh?

Lena pulled off her sweater and her shirt and turned the water on.  As she waited for the water to warm up, she looked at herself.

There was something about her feathers.  They seemed dusty and pale, somehow. Lena wasn’t sure if it was some sort of remnant from the Shadow Realm.  Was shadow dust even a thing? Lena had no idea. She kind of hoped it was, otherwise that might mean that her feathers had permanently turned...blah.  

Lena climbed grabbed the bath pouf and climbed into the shower.  The water was a little too hot, but that was ok. Lena liked it too hot.  It hurt a little, but it reminded her that she was no longer a shadow. Nothing was too hot in the Shadow Realm.  

Lena basked in the heat and the steam, letting it soak her body and her feathers.  It had been a crazy, crazy day. It still didn’t feel quite real. But this shower was real.  So were the heat, and the water, and the steam. She took Webby’s soap and squeezed it out on the bath pouf.  She probably took a little too much, but after going so long without bathing (not that she’d had the need to, in the Shadow Realm), Lena figured she was owed.

She worked the soap into the pouf and then scrubbed it along her body, relishing the feeling of the mesh rubbing against her skin.  But then Lena felt something scratch her arm. She looked at the pouf and realized that she’d never taken the tag off.

Oh, well.

She scrubbed and scrubbed, careful not to miss any spot on her body.  The tag kept scratching her here and there, but that was ok. It was just another reminder that she was _real_ and _here_ and no longer a shadow.

Lena noticed that the water didn’t feel quite so hot anymore, so she turned up the hot water tap.  She checked her feathers, trying to see if they were regaining their luster, but she couldn’t tell through the soap and water.  She kept scrubbing anyway. Just to be extra thorough.

Lena looked up and realized that the room had filled with clouds of steam.  It was a little like the haze of the Shadow Realm. Lena felt her breath quicken, and she scrubbed herself harder to remind herself that she was whole again.  The water cooled again, so she turned up the tap, but the water didn’t get any warmer.

“I’m real.  I’m real,” Lena muttered to herself.  She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.  “I’m real, and I’m not in the Shadow Realm anymore.” She shook the water out of her feathers, which, according to Aunt Magica, wasn’t something that polite ducks did, but Lena didn’t care.  She squeezed the water out of the pink feathers on her head and then grabbed a towel and rubbed herself dry. The rough terry cloth stung a little after the rough mesh of the bath pouf, and it messed up her feathers, but Lena kind of preferred it that way.

When she was nice and dry, Lena pulled her shirt and her sweater back on and wiped the steam from the mirror so she could look at herself.  Her feathers seemed a little bit brighter, so that was something.  But the feathers on her head were a mess, so she rummaged around.  Webby wouldn’t mind if she used her hairbrush, right?

Lena brushed her hair, sweeping it to the side, and stepped out of the bathroom.  The cool air gave her goosebumps, and Lena loved it.

Most of the lights were off, and the house was quiet.  Lena made her way downstairs. She could hear someone in the kitchen, and the light was on, so she walked in.

“Ah, Lena,” Scrooge said.  “I was just making myself some nutmeg tea.  Would you like some?”

“No, thanks,” Lena said.

“What about hot cocoa?  I woudnae want all of this hot water to go to waste.”

“Ok.”

Scrooge took out the cocoa and spooned some into mug, then poured in some hot water.  He picked up his own mug and took out the tea bag, carefully setting it down on a plate.  

“Why don’t we go in and sit a while?” he suggested, handing Lena her cocoa.

Lena followed him out to the living room and settled onto the couch.  It was really different in there without the other kids.  Much quieter.  Much less _Ottoman Empire_.  

Lena took a sip of her cocoa.  It was good.

“I think we have a lot to catch up on,” Scrooge said.

Lena looked into her mug and took a deep breath.  “Yeah. I guess we do.”


End file.
